tapas feast

This is my favorite kind of post. The kind of post where I can review, and offer recipes. During our recent travels abroad, we enjoyed a tapas feast in Barcelona. Here's the original restaurant information:

Ciudad Condal

Rambla Catalunya 18

Barcelona - Spain

+34 933 181 997

While the dollar is suffering, this place is a hungry travelers dream come true. We feasted on just about everything on the menu - and managed to rack up a manageable 79Euro tab. (There were four of us and they had to roll us out by the end of it...not bad!). I especially enjoyed the briney olives, the delicious sangria and the patatas bravas. When we got home - you can bet I did my best to re-create our Catalunyan feast...and you can bet that tapas night is a new tradition at our house!

First things first, the potables:

Sangria:

(1 pitcher)

• 1 bottle rioja red wine
• 2 C. fresh orange juice
• 1 C. ginger ale
• 1/2 apple, cut into tiny pieces
• 1/2 orange, cut into small pieces
• 1 lemon, sliced thin
• 1/2 (or so) C. dark rum
  

Stir, with ice, until it's really cold! Garnish each glass with an orange and get ready for a treat.

Now, for the edibles (for 4):

Patatas Bravas

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Serves: 4

You'll need:

• 4 potatoes (medium sized, I used organic white potatoes)
• 1 T. olive oil
• Salt & Pepper
  

For the sauce:

• 1/4 C. olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 2 t. chili flakes
• 1 small can tomato paste (I like Cento)
• 1/2 C. mayonnaise

For the potatoes: Preheat oven to 350. Dice the potatoes into 3/4" cubes. Coat with about 2 T. olive oil, liberally crack black pepper over them. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour or until tender and starting to brown.

For the sauce: Clean and chop the garlic. Add 1/4 C. olive oil to a small saucepan, heat for 1 minute over medium heat. Drop in the garlic, let it blonde (about 1-2 minutes). Add chili flakes, stir over heat for 1 minute more. Remove from heat before garlic burns, and add tomato paste. Whisk until combined (if the mixture is too "tight" - add a couple T water to loosen). Put over low heat for 20 minutes while flavors combine. Season to your liking. Then, let it cool. When you're ready to eat the potatoes, mix the tomato paste mixture with the mayonnaise.

If you want to get really fancy - you can scoop the sauce into a plastic baggie, snip off one tiny corner and drizzle the sauce over the potatoes. Me? I was far too eager to eat them to take the time...

Tomato Bread

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Serves: 4

You'll need:

• 1 baguette or something similar
• 1 ripe tomato (medium-sized)
• 1-2 large cloves of garlic
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

This couldn't be easier. First, slice the bread into 1/2 inch slices, and toast them (either in an oven or a panini press). When they are nice and crusty, they're done. Next, peel the garlic-but leave it whole. Cut one tiny end off the garlic - and rub the raw garlic clove across each piece of bread a few times. Next, cut the tomato in half. Rub the raw tomato on each piece of bread too - should give it a nice pink hue. Next, arrange the breads in a single layer on a plate - and drizzle olive oil over the whole platter. The last step is a little salt and a little pepper on top of each slice - and you're done!

Garlic Sauteed Mushrooms

Prep time: 2 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

You'll need:

• 2 containers of pre-sliced white mushrooms
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3 T. olive oil
• salt & pepper

First, dice the garlic. Next heat some olive oil in a skillet. When the garlic is blonde, drop the mushrooms in - stir to coat with olive oil. Stir occasionally for about 15-20 minutes until the mushrooms are sauteed to your liking. When they are done cooking, season with salt and pepper to your liking, and enjoy!

...And that's pretty much it for the cooking part! Take some help from the store on this one - and go find a couple blocks of good cheese, some mixed olives, and some prosciutto to enjoy along with the tasty things you made. Enjoy your tapas feast with no less than two glasses of your delicious sangria.